Career or Family: Kate's Choice
by hallow777
Summary: Beckett's talk with Agent Shaw has her thinking that maybe she has been wrong about something all this time and she tries to figure out what she should do about it. Can be considered a continuation of "Career or Family?" Though its a bit different
1. Baby Mania

**Wow you guys were so awesome in your reviews for my first Castle story! Many of you wanted me to continue it but I had only planned for it to just be a oneshot that kind of fits in with the series storyline. **

**So I sat down today and came up with this.**

**You could say that this takes place after the Career or Family oneshot but it can stand alone as well.**

**No I don't own Castle.**

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_They_ were everywhere. Every single place she went _they_ were there. She wasn't even safe in her own apartment since she could hear _them _through the thin walls of her new apartment.

Who is this "they" that Detective Kate Beckett is currently trying to escape from? Mass murderers? Serial rapists? Rabid reporters? No. _They_ are a considerable bit smaller than any of those.

After having to listen to _them_ most of the night, Kate Beckett was very glad to be heading to work since that was the once place _they_ had yet to appear. After all, a police department is not exactly a good place for _them_.

She walked into the precinct and immediately wanted to walk right back out. From deep within the building, probably near where her desk was, she could hear the crying of one of _them._

Steeling her nerves and trying to tell herself to calm down, that she was clearly over reacting to this, she continued through the building until she got to her desk and found that she was right. The crying had been coming from this area. She made her way to her desk, absently noting that Castle wasn't there yet, and immediately Detective Ryan was handing her the crying bundle of blankets that was one of _them._

"Yo, Beckett! Glad you're here! Esposito and I are working a case that came in earlier, really simple so we didn't call you, but anyway our main witness who saw everything is talking to Esposito now but she didn't feel right about talking about a murder with her baby in the room so she made me take care of him. But now since you are here, I think I'll go help Esposito." He was walking backwards, towards the interrogation room, the whole time he was talking and before she could even get out a word he was out of sight and she was left alone with one of _them._

Yes. The very thing that Kate was trying to escape from was a cute and innocent baby. It wasn't that she disliked babies, no it was quite the opposite really. In fact lately she had been liking them a little too much and found herself thinking of things that she really shouldn't be. She blamed all these strange feelings she had been having lately on the conversation she had with Agent Shaw a couple of weeks ago.

Ever since then she had been noticing that babies were everywhere. Even at home. It was only a few days after she had gotten moved in that she realized that her neighbors had a baby that loved to scream at night.

She couldn't even go shopping or go eat out without seeing at least one baby anymore. Each and every time she saw one of those cute babies, a feeling of something she didn't really understand bubbled in her chest and threatened to overwhelm her.

Kate had talked about this with Lanie a week ago but she only gave her a useless suggestion.

"You know, Kate, you are going to hit the big three oh soon… Maybe its your body's way of reminding you that it is not getting any younger and that its time to settle down and start a family?"

Of course Kate only scoffed at the idea, not paying any attention to it at the time. But now, as she sat there at her desk holding the small bundle, that had stopped screaming after she had let him grab one of her fingers, she couldn't help but think maybe Lanie was right.

Kate was completely lost in her thoughts while holding the baby so she didn't notice Castle until he spoke up and she finally noticed that he was standing right in front of her.

"Oooooh, I do believe that I just peeled another layer off of the Beckett Onion! Hmm who would have thought that you had a maternal side to you."

"Yeah, well, there are many things you don't know about me, Castle."

She spun her chair around so that she wouldn't have to look at his grinning face but he spun her back around and took the baby from her before she could protest.

"So what's the deal with this little guy?"

Castle held the baby up near his face and twisted his face into the one face that had always made Alexis laugh when she was a baby, and apparently it worked on this little boy too as he started laughing like crazy.

Kate smiled at the sight in front of her for a little bit before remembering that he had asked a question.

"Apparently Esposito and Ryan took a case and didn't bother to tell me about it. They are questioning the witness now but she didn't want her son around all the murder talk."

Castle nodded then went back to making funny faces at the baby. Kate watched them with a smile on her face and her smile only grew when the baby caught sight of her and decided that he was done with Castle and wanted to go back to her. Castle pouted as he handed the baby to her and then started whining when she said that obviously he liked her better than him.

They bantered back and forth like normal though this time the baby was the main focus as he would go back and forth between the two of them.

A little later, Kate sat back in her chair as she watched Castle play "pattycake" with the baby on his lap.

'Wow, he is really good with babies. I knew he took care of Alexis but still, I never imagined this. I wonder… is this what a family with Castle would be like?' A look of horror fell across her face as she realized what she had just thought. She couldn't possibly be considering? No, she shook her head, trying to rid herself of those thoughts. It was simply a lack of sleep that's all.

But as she watched Castle make the baby laugh one more time before handing him back to his mother she couldn't stop one last thought from making its way into her mind.

'Would a life with Castle really be that bad?'

Her cell phone rang and she answered it, quickly getting the location of the murder. Kate pushed her previous thoughts out of her head, determined to figure them out later. Right now, she had a murder to solve.

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**So, I plan to have a few more chapters to this but that depends on if anyone actually likes this or not lol!**


	2. Deep Fried Twinkies and Ice Cream

**Well since you guys apparently really like it here is another chapter for you!**

**Also um if any of you guys actually like Meredith... I'm sorry please don't hate me?**

**I own nooooooooooooothing.**

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A couple murders later, Kate had yet to deal with these new feelings of hers. She had been too busy solving cases, and chasing down suspects. Most nights when she finally got home, she just collapsed into bed, only to get up and do the same thing the next day.

This last case had been a whole bunch of seemingly unconnected incidents and it was extremely trying for all them until Castle managed to find something that pieced them all together. After that everything had fallen right into place and now she was doing all the paperwork that always came after solving a case.

Kate was about halfway through with the papers when a shadow fell across her desk, she looked up to see Castle settling in his chair next to her desk. He looked like he had something to say but she was sure that he would tell her whenever he was ready, so she went back to her paperwork. Before she knew it, she only had a small stack of papers left but Castle had yet to say a word so she finally turned towards him and snapped her fingers in front of his face to get his attention.

"Whatever it is you want to say, say it. Or leave and let me finish my paperwork in peace."

Castle looked at her like he had forgotten where he was for a moment then shook his head.

"Castle, tell me. Now." No one could refuse Kate Beckett when she used her interrogation tone, not even Castle.

"Something is wrong with Alexis."

Kate felt a flash of concern and a brief moment of panic before she managed to get her voice to work again.

"Is she ok? Is she hurt? What's wrong with her?"

Castle looked taken aback at the concerned tone in her voice but quickly recovered.

"I don't know. She just seems kind of sad and depressed lately but she won't tell me what is wrong and every time I ask she just fakes a smile and tries to convince me she is okay but I know something is wrong!"

Kate let out a small sigh of relief, she had thought that the girl was seriously ill or something from the way he had said something was wrong.

"Castle, don't you think you are just over reacting? Maybe its boy trouble? Or just a girl thing she doesn't feel comfortable telling her father?"

"She always tells me about her boy troubles, whether I want to hear it or not. And if it was a girl thing she would have talked to mother about it but I asked and she said that Alexis hasn't mentioned anything. I've been so focused on this case that I haven't paid enough attention to her."

Once Kate had gotten him to start talking she had started back on her paperwork and now she was finished. Standing up from her chair, she took her jacket and purse from under her desk then turned and rested a hand on Castle's shoulder.

"Look, I am sure whatever it is isn't as bad as you think. Go home, get some rest, I'm off duty tomorrow so take the day off and relax. Spend some time with her and maybe she'll open up and talk to you about it. Night Castle."

She squeezed his shoulder a bit for reassurance then headed home for some much needed sleep.

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A couple hours later found Kate lying in bed, wide awake. It didn't make any sense. Four hours ago she had been dead on her feet and she had even gotten into bed early but now? It felt like she had drunk five espressos.

And it wasn't even the babies, and thoughts pertaining to babies, that were keeping her up either. Oh no, this was all Castle's fault. She couldn't help but think that maybe something was wrong with the girl after all or something happened that she didn't want to tell her dad about. She had been laying there for hours trying to figure out what could possibly be wrong. Over and over she told herself she was just over thinking it and that there wasn't really any need for her to be worrying over this so much. It wasn't like she was extremely close to Alexis so there wasn't anything she could do. Or was there?

_Okay, just one message and then I will be able to sleep. _

She picked up her phone and scrolled through her contacts until she found Alexis's number then quickly typed a message before sending it.

_"Hey its me, Kate. You know, Detective Beckett? Anyway I know this is kind of random but I just wanted to let you know that if you ever need someone to talk to, whether its just to talk or something you can't talk to your dad about, you can talk to me okay?"_

Kate felt as if a weight was lifted off her shoulders and she was finally able to sleep peacefully.

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Kate woke up to the sound of her phone signaling that she had a text message. Rolling over she grabbed the phone wondering who would be texting her on her day off and swearing that if it was Ryan or Esposito she was going to have them doing paperwork for the next week. Fortunately for them they weren't stupid enough to do that. Instead, Kate was surprised to see the message was from Alexis.

_"Hey Kate, I guess Dad talked to you huh? Um actually… If you don't mind, I would like to talk. I would rather do it in person but I know you're busy so maybe you could give me a call when you are on break or something?"_

She grinned as she dialed the number and waited for Alexis to pick up. It would be a nice change to spend time with the younger Castle, and besides it wasn't like she actually had anything planned for today.

Alexis finally picked up the phone and Kate told her that she had the day off today and after a bit of persuading Alexis agreed to meet her for brunch.

After hanging up Kate hurriedly got out of bed since they had agreed to meet in thirty minutes and she really needed a shower.

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Brunch was spent chatting about little things like the weather and some of their favorite movies and singers. The only other time they had been alone together was when Alexis was helping out at the precinct and Kate was working so they didn't have much time to talk. They found that they liked a lot of the same things and got along pretty well, but Kate knew what Castle meant now. Though she acted like her normal self you could tell there was an underlying sadness.

They finished their meal but neither of them wanted to part company yet so Kate suggested that they go back to her apartment and Alexis readily agreed.

The ride back to Kate's apartment was silent and by the time they actually got into the apartment, she couldn't hold back her curiosity anymore.

"I don't mean to pry or anything but you have your dad pretty worried you know."

They were sitting on the couch together with Kate facing Alexis while she looked down at her hands trying to find the right words.

"I know… and I don't want to worry him… but… I can't tell him."

Kate moved until she could rest her hand on one of Alexis's.

"Can't tell him what? Did something happen?"

"Its about Meredith."

Kate blinked in confusion for a minute and spoke before she could stop herself.

"The deep fried twinkie?"

That caused Alexis to chuckle a bit but then that caused all the tears she had been holding back to run freely down her face. Kate scooted over to her and hesitantly wrapped her in her arms, not sure what else to do since it had been a extremely long time since she had to comfort anybody.

After a while, Alexis finally calmed down enough to explain.

"About a week ago, our school announced that we would be having a sort of motivational women's day thing to celebrate mother's day and they asked the students to ask their mothers to come and do a little speech about what they did for work… Not many mothers wanted to do it so I called Meredith and asked if she would come and she said she would so I told the student council and they were so happy that someone else was coming."

Alexis paused to breathe a bit and calm her nerves. All the while, Kate was trying to figure out why this would have her so upset.

"But then two days ago she shows up at my school and called me out of class to tell me that… she couldn't come because she had found a new boyfriend but she didn't want him to know that she had a child because it would 'ruin' her image."

Kate opened her mouth to say something but Alexis continued on.

" And its not even really that part that hurts. I've been expecting something like that for a while now but its just that the one time I ask her do to something for me, she bails. I'm just tired of acting, Kate."

Thoroughly confused now, Kate just held her tighter while she finished.

"There might have been a time when she was motherly towards me when I was a baby but as far as I can remember she hasn't ever been the 'mother' type. She kidnaps me off to insane shopping trips but that's about as far as her affection has ever gone. Honestly? I've never really considered her my mother but I would always smile and pretend so that dad wouldn't worry about me. He even married Gina because he thought I needed a mother figure. I don't want to have to pretend and call her my mother anymore. Especially after she practically disowned me."

They were quiet for a while. Kate trying to comprehend what she had just heard and Alexis worrying that maybe she had said too much. But finally Kate spoke up.

"I… I really don't know what to say. I mean… I can't imagine ever having a mother like that. And I don't know what I can do or say to make you feel better but I think you need to tell Castle this."

"I can't! I tried to tell him once before and he ran off and married Gina so I would have a mother."

"He was just trying to do what he thought was best for you at the time. But you are older now. I think he will understand if you explain it to him."

Alexis thought about it for a minute.

"Okay, fine I'll tell him. But only if you promise to help me stop him if he decides to marry another woman solely for my benefit."

Kate grinned as she pictured herself holding Castle back as he tried to ask every woman that passed by if she would marry him.

"Deal. Now Ice cream solves every problem and I have strawberry and chocolate, which do you want?"

"Strawberry please. And um do you think we could watch a movie or something? I don't want to tell him yet…"

"Sure why don't you pick one out and I'll get the ice cream?"

Kate got off the couch and headed into the kitchen, coming out a few minutes later with two bowls of strawberry ice cream. She had expected the TV to be on and Alexis hopefully skipping through the millions of previews they put before movies but instead she was sitting there staring at her phone.

She moved around and sat Alexis's bowl next to her, startling her a bit. She looked up when Kate asked what was wrong.

"Oh… I forgot… I still have to call the school and tell them that she won't be coming. They were so happy to have someone else coming to give a speech. I feel bad for them."

Kate picked up her bowl and took a spoonful of ice cream before holding the spoon in her mouth thoughtfully. Maybe there was something she could do.

"I'm not trying to butt into your life or anything but… if you want me to go in the deep fried twinkie's place, I will."

Alexis's eyes lit up and Kate felt a surge of happiness knowing that she had caused that reaction.

"Really? But, what about work?"

"I'm sure that the captain won't mind me taking off. I've got unused sick days piled high. He might even be grateful to you for making me use one."

A few minutes later, they were both enjoying their ice cream while watching Pirates of the Carribbean: At World's End.

As they sat on the couch together, Alexis curled into Kate's side. Kate felt that same sort of longing that she had every time she saw a baby, but there was also a sense of contentment now as well.

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**So um well... I only have a general idea of where this story is going so while thinking of what should happen I started thinking about what would have surely been a wonderful scene between Kate and Alexis in "Boom!" If they hadn't taken it out... and so this came to be.**


	3. To Remmy's or Not To Remmy's

**AN: I know most of you were probably looking forward to Kate going to Alexis's school in this chapter but thats not going to happen until next chapter. Updates will be sporadic because I am horrible about doing things in a timely manner...**

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The next two weeks were pretty uneventful. Alexis did manage to talk to her father about the deep fried twinkie, and apparently he took it pretty well. Maybe a little too well. Personally, Kate thought that he was up to something but she didn't dwell on it too much.

It was Friday morning and Kate was dutifully working on the never ending piles of paperwork that were on her desk. There hadn't been a case for a few days now and they were all starting to get a little antsy.

At eight in the morning a call came in for Kate and she answered it, getting the address then calling Ryan to let him know since he and Esposito were closer to the place than she was.

Kate and Castle piled into her car and headed to a residential neighborhood, coming to stop at a modest house. It had white siding and blue shutters over the windows along with a decent sized backyard with a few toys. Before she even got out of the car, Kate was starting to dread what they would find. It was always the ones in peaceful places like this that were the hardest and most emotional cases.

They met Esposito and Ryan at the front door and Kate immediately started questioning them.

"Ok, so what do we have? Where's the body?"

Ryan and Esposito looked at each other then back at Beckett.

"Well, that's the thing. There is no body. Kidnapping of a one year old boy."

"Wait, then why are we here? Those black vans out front… are those FBI?"

"Feds are already crawling all over the place and we are here because they requested you for this case."

Before Kate got a chance to open her mouth, It was Castle who voiced her thoughts.

"Wait! Don't tell me! Its lover boy Sorensen looking for Beckett again, am I right?"

"Sorry bro, not this time. Sorensen is here but he isn't the one that requested her. It was the mother of the victim."

Very confused, and not really looking forward to seeing Will again, Kate motioned for them to move aside and she headed into the house with Castle right behind her.

She saw Will first but he was busy talking to some of his people so she continued on into the house where she found a very upset woman and a man sitting on the couch.

The living room was simple, not much of a color scheme but a mix match of different things that managed to make the place feel comfortable and homey. There were two couches facing each other with a coffee table in between so Kate and Castle took a seat on the couch opposite of what they assumed were the parents of the little boy.

The man had watched them as they walked in but the woman only looked up once they sat down, her eyes immediately going to Kate and suddenly why she was requested started to make sense as Kate recognized her.

"Kayla? Kayla… Weaver?"

The woman smiled though the effect was ruined by the tears streaming down her face.

"Yeah its me, though its Hearth now. I got married." Kayla patted the man's knee. "and this is Jared."

"You know her?" Ever curious, Castle couldn't keep quiet for long. It was Kayla that answered.

"Kate and I were friends back in High School and College but we kind of lost touch after a while. You're Richard Castle, right? I've read all of your books and I love Heat Wave."

Kate blushed and tried to steer the conversation away from her so called 'alter ego' and back to the reason why they were here.

"Its nice to see you again, but I think its best we get back to the reason I am here."

Kayla instantly became somber again and leaned back to hold her husband's hand. He seemed content to let her do the talking.

"I…I… asked for you because I know you are the best… I hope you don't mind? We just…" She stopped to catch her breath then started to ramble. "We put Josh to bed last night and I got up about midnight when he was crying to feed him but he went back to sleep soon after that and I went back to bed… I should have realized something was wrong when he didn't wake me up again after that but he was finally starting to sleep for longer times and it had been so long since I had gotten a full nights sleep that I didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth you know? But I finally got up a little before seven thirty and went to check on him but he wasn't there. I thought maybe he had just found a way to get out of his crib since he had been crawling a lot and trying to stand up but I looked all over and he was nowhere to be found…"

Kayla trailed off and turned to bury her face in her husband's shirt and he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight.

Kate looked at Castle and they both stood up, heading upstairs to check out the rest of the house. CSU was just finishing up in the nursery when they made their way into the room. It looked as if the kidnapper had come in through the window. There were markings outside the window where a ladder had scrapped the siding though inside there wasn't much out of place at all. The crib was wiped clean as was the area around the window. The culprit managed not to leave any evidence that would point to who it was.

The rest of the day was spent questioning Kayla and Jared about their family and friends and other routine things but nothing turned up. There was no one suspicious, no enemies, no threatening letters, no nothing. Absolutely nothing for them go to on and it was frustrating Kate to no end.

This is why she was on the homicide team. It was so much easier when they at least had a body to work with. Right now they had nothing at all.

It was now almost eight at night and Kate was sitting in the precinct in front of the murder board, or rather the kidnap board. It was very pathetic looking since they really didn't have much to go on at all. She could hear footsteps coming up behind her but knew it was just Castle. Kate felt a light weight on her shoulders and looked to find her favorite brown jacket draped over her shoulders. She turned just enough to give Castle a questioning look.

"Come on, put your jacket on… Don't give me that look, I know you haven't eaten since breakfast so we are going to get something to eat."

She knew it would be useless to argue with him. He had _that_ look on his face. The one that said 'you will do what I say'. So she put on her jacket and walked with him out of the precinct and down the few blocks to Remmy's.

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When Kate headed into the precinct at seven thirty in the morning, she was surprised to see Castle already sitting at her desk. He jumped up when he noticed her presence.

"Hey! I figured you would be in here early. I was hoping we could go back and talk to them again? There has got to be something we missed or maybe the FBI has found something new."

She hesitated for a moment but when he mentioned buying coffee on the drive over, she agreed and they headed out.

The ride there was filled with constantly changing radio stations until she threatened that if he touched the dial one more time he was going to be riding in the backseat the rest of the way.

Instead of Esposito and Ryan waiting at the front door this time, it was Will. He didn't look in the mood to talk so she just walked passed him. He didn't say anything and she was grateful that he didn't seem to want to talk to her but then she realized that her shadow wasn't following her. Kate turned around to see Will with his arm stretched out, blocking the entrance so Castle couldn't go through.

"Not this time Writer Boy."

Kate, mildly irritated, walked back over to him.

"Let him through, Will."

"Not this time Kate, I don't want to chance him messing something up."

She looked exasperated at him while Castle just looked back and forth between them, figuring that talking would probably get him in trouble with both of them.

"You know very well that he can be a help! Why the hell are you being so immature about this?"

"Immature? You're the one getting worked up over not getting your way. He does not go in. Understand?"

Kate eyed him for a minute, wondering if he was always this childish and if he was why didn't she see it before?

"Fine." Will looked pleased but Castle turned to her with a shocked and sad expression on his face to which she just rolled her eyes.

"But," She walked past Will, after forcibly moving his arm, to stand on the front porch with Castle. "I'm not going in either. So either you can let us both in or you can go inside and explain to an extremely upset woman how you are being childish and won't let us in."

Not at all happy, Will turned around and stomped off into the house, presumable to go talk to his team. Kate rolled her eyes at him before walking into the house, this time with Castle following her looking extremely happy at what she had done.

Once again they were sitting on the same couch in the living room going through the lists and asking questions with Will pretty much sulking in the background.

Now it was almost noon and they hadn't figured out anything new. The FBI team had gone up to the nursery again to try some new technique about thirty minutes ago and now one of the elder members was walking down the stairs, lecturing a younger member.

"Kid I'll have you know that I know a helluva lot more about this job than you do!"

Castle was talking to Kayla, attempting to get info about Kate's highschool and college years, while Kate sat staring at the wall but when she heard the conversation between the FBI members she shot up, startling both Castle and Kayla.

"What did you just say?"

The elder member turned towards Kate, blinking confusedly at her for a few seconds.

"Um… I said, Kid I'll have you know…" He trailed off as Kate started muttering to herself.

"Kid I'll. Ki-di'll. Ki-dale. Kidale!"

Castle had to duck as Kate's scarf almost smacked him in the face as she whipped around extremely fast to face Kayla.

"Kidale, do you remember him? He was obsessed with you during college!"

"Oh… Yeah I remember him… but do you really think he had something to do with this? I haven't heard from him in years…"

"Its farfetched but its really the only thing we have to go on."

She quickly pulled out her phone and called Ryan to look up info on Jimmy Kidale. Of course he agreed to look up him and told her that he would call her back when he found anything, so they were left with nothing to do again. It only took a few minutes before Castle's curiosity to get the better of him.

"So… Whose this Kidale person?"

"His name is Jimmy Kidale and he was absolutely obsessed with Kayla during college. And by obsessed, I mean stalker obsession. He followed her everywhere until she had to file a restraining order against him. We even found out he spent his free time photoshopping pictures of them together. I'm surprised he just let you go though."

"Me too… Honestly I had forgotten about him until you mentioned him."

They settled into silence again then Will emerged from upstairs and demanded to know what they were talking about so they repeated the story to him.

About ten minutes later Ryan and Esposito showed up with a decent sized file in Ryan's hands.

"We would have called but we figured you would want to take a look at this yourself."

He handed over the file to Kate's waiting hands and Castle was immediately looking over her shoulder but as she opened the file she turned to the side keeping Castle from looking. He moved to the other side and she once again moved so he couldn't see. They continued this the whole time Kate was reading the file. Kate snapped the file closed with a loud snap and a groan from Castle who had only gotten to read the first line.

"I think we need to talk to Mr. Kidale, don't you think guys?"

They all shared a grin and then Kate turned to Kayla and her husband again.

"Looks like he might not have given up on you at all. Around the time he stopped stalking you? He was admitted into a mental institute and was just released about a month ago."

At that Castle snatched the file out of her hands to read it for himself and continued to read it all the way out to the car and part of the ride to Mr. Kidale's last known address.

Jimmy Kidale had a small apartment about thirty minutes away from Kayla's house so it didn't take too long for them to pull up at the apartment. Opening their trunks, the police detectives pulled out their bullet proof vests and pulled out their guns. Normally they would just send some officers to bring him into the station but with suspects with histories like this it was best to go in prepared.

Once they were suited up, Kate looked back to find Castle smiling in his writer vest and sighed.

"Fine. But! You stay directly behind me and you do not get to touch anything or wander off on your own even if we clear the apartment, got it?"

He nodded enthusiastically and they all headed up the stairs to apartment thirteen. They surrounded the door and Ryan knocked on the door heavily while shouting "NYPD! Open up!" but all they got was silence so Kate moved to kick down the door and then Ryan and Esposito rushed in.

Ryan went to the left and Esposito went to the right with Kate and Castle following him. There was a hallway leading to what looked like an office on one side and a bedroom on the other. Esposito took the office while Kate and Castle took the bedroom. She gestured Castle off to the side then opened the door and rushed in to see a very strange sight.

"Shhhh… You'll disturb the baby."

Hearing a voice, it only took Ryan and Esposito a few seconds to get in the bedroom too. As soon as they took in the sight of Kidale lying on the bed, feeding a baby they jumped into action.

"Step away from the baby and put your hands up! Now!" They rushed forward and wrestled the man to the ground, handcuffing him.

"What are you doing! What are you doing with my son!" Kidale screamed when Kate walked forward and gently picked up the baby who had started screaming when Esposito had yelled. The baby boy was still screaming as she held him until she reached down and picked up the bottle, quickly squeezing some of the milk looking liquid out and tasting it, making sure it was actually formula and safe for the baby to drink.

The baby quieted down immediately when he was given the bottle and Kate walked out with Castle following her as Esposito and Ryan practically dragged the screaming and delusional man out of the apartment and into their car. Kate looked around the apartment, taking in the various baby things that were strewn about the house. Thankfully it looked like he had taken care of the baby. Her eyes settled on a car seat that was in the corner but before she could go get it, Castle walked past her and grabbed it and brought it back to her.

"Guess we get the honors of taking him back to his parents right?"

She smiled, thinking about the reactions of Kayla and Jered when they brought their baby boy back safe and sound.

She quickly placed the baby, who had fallen asleep, in the car seat but paused as she tried to figure out exactly how to secure him in the seat.

Castle, seeing her confusion, moved Kate out of the way and quickly fasten the baby in his car seat then picked it up. She gave him a grateful look then they headed out of the apartment and down to her car.

She let Castle secure the car seat in the backseat while she called for paramedics to be at Kayla's house to make sure the baby was healthy. Kate slid into the driver's seat and waited a few minutes before Castle slid into his side of the car and then they headed back to Kayla's.

Castle immediately reached for the radio dial but she slapped his hand without even looking away from the road.

"No."

"But."

"No. You'll wake up the baby."

A while later, they pulled up at Kayla's house and immediately were swarmed by paramedics. They took the baby but returned him to Kate a few minutes later, deeming him perfectly healthy.

Thanking the paramedics, she walked up the steps to the house, completely ignoring Will who had a questioning look on his face.

Neither Castle nor Kate would ever forget the look of absolute joy and relief that was on both Kayla and Jered's faces when Kate walked in holding the baby. Kayla immediately rushed towards her and took the baby, all the while cooing at him and Kate took that opportunity to explain.

"Apparently after he got out of the mental institute, for making lots of progress, he found out you had a baby and in his warped mind he thought it was his and decided to take him. It looks like he took good care of him though."

Kayla passed the baby to Jered then enveloped a surprised Kate in a hug then moving to hug Castle as well.

"Thank you… Thank you both. I know you don't normally work kidnapping cases, but thank you. Maybe we can stay in touch better now, Kate?"

Kate nodded and they exchanged numbers but before they could do much else Kate was swept up in police stuff. Explaining what had happened to the FBI and filling out papers and other stuff. It wasn't until they got back to the precinct later that night that she got a free moment, while she was taking down the kidnapping board.

"Soooo, wanna go to Remmy's again? Or maybe we could go somewhere else this time?"

"Do you know how many times you have dragged me out to Remmy's this past month? The waitresses there know us by name and don't even ask for our orders anymore. They just greet us then yell to the cook that we are there."

"So? That's not necessarily a bad thing you know. Why don't we go somewhere else then? My treat?"

Kate hesitated for a moment. Going to Remmy's was one thing, but going somewhere else? That felt like a date and Kate did not want to end up on page six after being seen on a 'date' with Richard Castle.

But between the puppy eyes he was giving her and her own need for food, she gave in.

"Fine, But its not a date. Got it?"

He waved her off casually then practically pushed her towards the elevator.

"I know this awesome little Italian place how about we go there?"

She listened to him ramble about the place all the way down the elevator and into her car and couldn't help but think that it was kind of nice to be going out on a date with him. Kate froze for a few seconds in horror at what she had just thought but quickly shook herself out of it before Castle noticed.

_Its not a date, we're just going out as friends._

And then, a voice inside her head that sounded suspiciously like Lanie, spoke up.

_Riiiiiiight._

**

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AN: That last scene? Sounded a lot better in my head... oh well. Review? Please? They make me very very happy and when I am happy, things actually get done...**


	4. A date? Wait, you date?

**Ehehehehe... Try not to kill me for waiting like two months to update? A lot of crap happened and this chapter was being a pain to write since I didn't really have a clear idea of what should happen. So maybe you can forgive me and continue reading this story? It really shouldn't take that long to get the next chapter done...**

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It was Friday morning and Kate was not happy. They had just found a new lead on their latest case, a big lead at that, and Ryan and Esposito were out tracking a guy down for her now. That should be reason for her to be very happy right? Kate wasn't unhappy about the case. Oh no, she was glad that it was almost over but she was unhappy at herself. At what she had gotten herself into, to be more precise. This was no ordinary Friday, it was the day she was supposed to go to Alexis's school and she was nervous. Kate Beckett did not do nervous, unless of course, one of her guys was in danger.

What would she say when she got to the school? If they asked her to talk about her job what would she tell them? She certainly couldn't describe a bunch of murders to highschool kids. Plus, how was she supposed to introduce herself? 'Hi, I'm Kate Beckett, A co-worker of Alexis Castle's father and I'm filling in because her mother is a deep fried twinkie?' Oh sure, that'd work perfectly. I'd be a lot easier just to lie and say she was Alexis's mother or step-mom but she didn't want to make Alexis feel uncomfortable.

Kate spent a few more minutes fretting over how tonight would go but then, a mug of steaming hot coffee was placed next to her and she gave Castle a grateful look. She thanked him as he moved to sit in his chair but before either of them could say anything, Ryan and Esposito came in with their guy and she had to go interrogate him.

The rest of the day passed quickly as they were all busy interrogating the man and then they were able to close the case after getting him to confess. It had taken most of the day to get enough evidence against him to make him cave so now it was an hour before she had to be at Alexis's school and she was finishing up some paper work.

Castle came out of the break room and leaned against the side of Kate's desk until she looked up at him.

"The guys and I were thinking about ordering some pizza and having a little celebration for putting that scumbag behind bars, you in?"

Normally she would be all for it but not tonight. "Sorry Castle but, I can't"

His face fell a little and he pulled out the puppy dog eyes. "But, it'll be fun."

"Sorry, not this time. I have a date." With a school. But, he didn't need to know that.

He sputtered a bit, leaning away from the desk so he was standing up straight now, looking down at her where she was still filling out paper work. "A date? You date?"

She shot him a glare and he retracted that statement. "Okay, that was a stupid question. But, who is it? Someone I know? It isn't that pin-up boy again is it?"

"Pin-up man, Castle. Pin-up, Man. But no, its not him. You might know him though." Really, she couldn't resist. She finished the last two forms while Castle rattled of name after name of guys that he knew.

When she was done with those, she put them in their designated place, then grabbed her jacket and purse and headed towards the elevator with Castle following her. She walked into the elevator but turned around and put out a hand to keep Castle from coming in with her. "Come on! Just tell me who it is!" She ignored him and with her other hand she pushed the button for the ground floor then gave him a little push with the other so he would be out of the way when the doors closed.

"Goodnight, Castle." Kate gave a little wave as the doors shut.

"Beeeeeeeckeeeett!" She shook her head as she heard him whine on the other side of the door before it started moving down. As much fun as it was doing this too him, she would probably regret it when he found out where she was really going.

* * *

Because she knew that Castle was safely at the precinct, Kate decided to go pick Alexis up instead of them meeting up at the school like they had planned. Since she was going to give a speech about her job, and because she felt comfortable and confident in them, she just wore the clothes she had worn to work that day, though she stopped at her apartment to redo her hair and freshen up a bit.

The car ride to the school wasn't very long, but Kate managed to find out a little bit more about what was expected of her and she also found out that it wasn't mandatory for students to attend. Which make her feel a little better, because she knew that there wouldn't be that many kids there and it would only be ones that actually wanted to be there so maybe, they would actually listen to what she had to say.

When they got to the school, Alexis showed her where to park then they headed inside. They had just barely made it into the gym, where the event was being held, when a blur came racing towards them at top speed.

"LEXIE!"

The nickname was squealed in such a high pitch that it made Kate want to cover her ears but Alexis took it in stride and merely widened her stance so she wouldn't fall over when the blur, which turned out to be a teenage girl, embraced her in a hug.

"Paige, you just saw me like four hours ago." That was met with a pout from the girl now known as Paige. "But… Oh! Who is this? Is this that Detective Beckett you won't shut up about?"

Alexis looked over her shoulder sheepishly at Kate, knowing that there was no way she couldn't have heard that.

"Yeah, Kate? This is Paige, my best friend. Paige, this is Detective Kate Beckett." Alexis introduced them and she knew that Paige was about to ask some potentially embarrassing questions so, she steered Paige over to the rest of the group in the middle of the gym, hoping to distract her.

Kate smiled and followed after them, slightly lost in thoughts at how they reminded her of Lanie and herself back when they were in college together.

Once they reached the group everything was a flurry of motion after that. Apparently her and Alexis, along with a mother and daughter pair that had come in right after them, were the last expected to arrive so they got the event underway. It wasn't a very extravagant thing, just something to celebrate motivational women for mother's day. There were drinks and food set out and everyone was allowed to grab some food and converse for a little bit before they started bringing people up to the stage to talk.

Five minutes in and Kate was already feeling out of her element. These people weren't criminals or hardnosed cops, they were just your everyday women who carried their small children around and chatted about how high the prices were getting on groceries and clipping coupons. They talked about how they had spent their day, taking care of their husbands or trying to get a small child to take their medicine. How could she approach them? It's not like she could relate to them in anyway. She didn't stay at home cooking meals or take care of a baby, she was out bringing criminals to justice and she was used to seeing blood and death almost every day. Not exactly a prime subject to talk about with a bunch of housewives.

She sat with Alexis, and Paige and her mother, in the first row and watched as a nurse came up and talked about her job and some of the people she had met while working as a nurse. Then came a lawyer and after that, a doctor. The audience politely paid attention to everyone that went on stage but, they were just up there talking. It wasn't like the audience was involved or anything like that.

After the doctor finished her speech, it was Kate's turn. And she still had no idea what she was going to say, even after watching the others up on the stage. Stiffly, she walked up the steps to the stage and was handed a microphone which she took with her as she took center stage.

"Uh… I have no idea what to say so, bare with me?" Standing up on the stage made her feel as if she was trying to make it seem like she was better than them and that's definitely not what she wanted to do. She felt a strange but desperate need to be on the same level as these mothers so, making a split second decision, she walked to the edge of the stage and sat down with her legs hanging off.

"I'm not a doctor that saves lives, nor am I a lawyer that helps people that are being framed for something they didn't do. I'm just a detective that wants to help victim's families get the closure they need. And, I still don't know what else to say and I'm afraid the principal wouldn't be very happy with me if I just ended it here so, how about you guys ask questions?"

They were all silent for a little while, seeming to be kind of nervous. After all this was the almost legendary Kate Beckett/Nikki Heat, it was hard not to be a little intimidated though they would all feel silly if they knew that she was the one that was actually intimidated by them. What would be appropriate to ask? They didn't want to offend her since she had been the talk of the school and the PTA ever since news had gotten out that Alexis had told them that she was coming tonight.

They were hesitant and Kate was getting pretty nervous up on the stage and she was just about to hop down and possibly sneak out the back door when someone finally spoke up.

"Okay, I'm sorry if this seems weird but I really wanna know, do you actually wear heels like that when are at work? What if you have to chase someone?" It was Paige's mom, Janelle, who spoke up, yelling loud enough so everyone could hear, startling Kate in the process since she was only a few feet in front of her.

"Oh, um yes I do. They are actually very comfortable and yes I have chased people before in these. Once you get used to running in them it isn't that hard. I actually prefer heels to tennis shoes though you all probably find that hard to believe."

That first question seemed to have broke down the wall of hesitation and the questions started flowing out from the crowd and Kate struggled to answer them all.

* * *

**We will see a little more of what happens at the school in the next chapter but as I'm not completely sure how its going to go, and its late and I want this chapter uploaded, I decided to save it for the next chapter even though I could have just put it on this chapter. Not really sure how good this turned out... So if anyone is still actually reading this story please review?**


	5. Chatting with Mothers

**I don't even have an excuse for why it took so long to write this chapter... This story and "Daughter for a Summer" are being pains to write for lately...**

**Sorry that it's sort of short but I figured you would want a short chapter now instead of waiting however long it would take me to write more XD**

**I DON'T OWN CASTLE**

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"Do you really solve crimes like they do in those police shows?"

"Um, that depends on which shows you are talking about…"

"Do you get to find matches in the finger print database? Or do the lab techs do that?"

"Lab techs usually do that."

"Is the Medical Examiner an old man like they usually are on tv?"

_Why do I get the feeling that these people have watched too much CSI? _"Well actually there are two ME's that I work with. One is an older, and kind of cranky, guy but the other is actually my best friend and she's a year younger than me. Definitely not your stereotypical ME."

On and on the questions poured out and Kate answered them as well as she could without saying something she could get in trouble for. Her turn on the stage ended up being a lot longer than the previous ones, and it would have gone on longer if the principal didn't interrupt saying they needed to give others a chance to speak.

The few other people that came up to the stage after Kate decided to do the same as she did and let the audience ask questions. They weren't quite as forthcoming with the questions as they were for Kate, but it was still more entertaining than the few women who had gone before her.

After all the speakers were done, the principal announced that the students had decided to put on a little mini play for them. It was suppose to start right after the speakers were done but they were having some technical difficulties so the women were left to their own devices.

Which meant they all converged into smaller groups and started chatting. Kate, on the other hand, was content to just sit back and listen to the groups around her. Okay so maybe there was just a teeny tiny part of her that wanted to join in but, while they seemed to like talking to her when she was being the speaker, she really didn't have much she could chat about with them if it wasn't about her work.

So she sat off to the side for a little while until suddenly a shadow fell over her and she looked up into the face of Paige's mom.

"Detective Beckett? Why don't you come over here and chat with us while we are waiting? It can't be much fun over here all by yourself." Kate looked over to the group Janelle was gesturing at and gave a small smile and a nod.

"Sure, why not?"

Not giving her a chance to change her mind, Janelle lead her over to the group of four that were sitting on the floor in a corner of the gym and told her she could sit next to a blonde haired woman who was holding an adorable baby girl in her arms.

Once Kate got settled in comfortably, Janelle, who was obviously the most outspoken of the group, introduced everyone and Kate found out that they were the mothers, or in one case the aunt, of Alexis's friends.

"I don't want to seem rude but, shouldn't you be off catching murderers instead of being here answering questions? I mean, we are totally glad you came but it seems like yours would be a busy job with not much time off." Chloe, the blonde woman sitting next to Kate who was the aunt of one of Alexis's friends, asked as she turned slightly towards Kate.

"Well, you are right. I'm usually always busy but I don't use many sick days and I can't even remember the last time I took a vacation, so my boss was happy to let me have the rest of today off."

There was a sound of understanding from the group but then it got silent again since no one knew what to talk about now that the detective had joined them. It stayed that way until the little girl who was sitting in Chloe's lap started climbing out of her lap and into Kate's.

"Claire! Geez, sorry Detective Beckett. She loves to crawl around."

Chloe pulled Claire back into her lap but as soon as she let her go, she immediately headed for Kate again.

"It's okay, I don't mind. She can come over here if she wants. How old is she?"

With Kate's consent, Chloe let Claire continue her adventure over their legs until she tumbled over into Kate's lap and sat there contentedly sucking on her pacifier.

"Thirteen months and already getting into everything."

That prompted the other members of their little group to share their stories of things their children did when they were little and crawling around. Seeing as she didn't have any such stories to share, Kate turned all her attention to Claire who was having fun playing with the hem of her shirt. Claire pulled hard on the shirt and almost toppled herself over but Kate grabbed her hands and kept her steady. After she was steady Kate let her go but she leaned back causing Kate to grab her once more. After the third time Kate realized that Claire wanted her to keep a hold of her and pull her back up when she leaned back so she did just that.

_Babies are so easily entertained._

She continued doing that for a few minutes until she heard her name and realized that Terry, another member of their group, was speaking to her.

"You're pretty good with kids, detective Beckett. Do you have any of you own?"

"M-Me? No, none." She sputtered, caught off guard by the question.

"Hmm well, you'll make a good mother in the future then."

"Thank you."

"It's true, and you're not just good with the little ones either. I've never heard Alexis talk so much about one person before. She really looks up to you and was so excited when you offered to come here tonight."

That got Kate's attention, she knew Alexis had been happy that she was going to come tonight but she didn't think it was really _that_ much of a big deal.

"Really? Well, she's a good kid, I couldn't say no."

"She's a great kid and she's definitely got that 'Castle charm' too. Speaking of 'Castle charm', if Alexis is asking you to come to something like this then you must be pretty close to 'Daddy Castle' after all, he does follow you around." Janelle finished her sentence with a suggestive wiggle of her eyebrows and Kate had no idea how to respond to that.

Thankfully she didn't have to.

"Okay! Sorry for the wait! We are now ready to start the play so please take your seats." The principal was on stage telling them a little bit about the play so the group stood up, and Kate handed Claire back to Chloe, and went back to the seats they were sitting in earlier to watch the play.

* * *

After the amazingly entertaining play was through, the event was officially over so everyone started heading home. Alexis was still backstage getting changed out of the clothes she wore during the play so Kate took that time to say bye to the women she had chatted with earlier, thanking them for including her in their group.

The women in the group all looked at each other with knowing looks then being the spokesperson once again, Janelle gave a friendly smile to Kate. "Something tells me that this won't be the only time we see each other at something like this detective Beckett. So, don't be shy and come and say hi anytime you see one of us."

It seemed highly unlikely that she would ever see these women again but she responded anyway. "I'll keep that in mind. As long as you all promise to just call me Kate the next time."

With smiles and nods, the women collected their teenage daughters and headed out the door just as Alexis emerged from the backstage and came over to Kate.

"You didn't have to wait for me, you know. I could have taken the subway home."

"True, but I don't have anything else to do so I might as well give you a ride home. You were amazing in the play by the way. I bet Martha would have been so proud of your acting skills if she had seen you."

They chatted easily about the things that had went on during the event all the way back to Castle's apartment where they said their goodbyes as Kate dropped her off at the building, waiting until she got inside before taking off to her own apartment.

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**Anyone still reading this story or have you all given up on me? Also suggestions for thing to happen in the next few chapters would be greatly appreciated. (Along with reviews, those are definitely appreciated too.)**


	6. Tell Me!

**Dare I check and see when I last updated this story? I probably don't want to know. I got to one point on here and the next part would not cooperate no matter how many times I wrote it. Then I start working on it tonight and amazingly it pretty much starts writing itself. **

**I do NOT own CASTLE**

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_They chatted easily about the things that had went on during the event all the way back to Castle's apartment where they said their goodbyes as Kate dropped her off at the building, waiting until she got inside before taking off to her own apartment._

Or at least, she _tried_ to go back to her apartment. Barely a block away from Castle's apartment building she got a call from Esposito telling her they had a case that was definitely 'Beckett' flavored, and asking if she wanted to take it even though she was supposed to have the rest of the night off. After taking down the address, Beckett realized that she needed to head the opposite way that she had been going so, thinking quickly, she pulled a sharp turn and went into the parking lot for Castle's apartment building to turn around but while she was there, something Esposito said sunk in.

"Wait, you said you and Ryan were heading to the scene now, right?"

Even over the phone she could tell he was confused with her odd question. "Yeah?"

"Isn't Castle with you? Aren't you guys supposed to be celebrating?"

"Oh, well what can I say? It wasn't that much fun without you, so he headed home about an hour, or so, ago."

Beckett told him that she would meet them at the crime scene in a few minutes before hanging up and hitting number two on speed dial, waiting impatiently in the parking lot for him to pick up.

"Beckett? Could it be that your date turned out horrible and you missed my charming company?"

She rolled her eyes at his happy tone even though he couldn't see it. "Not a chance, Castle. Now shut up and come down to your parking lot, we have a case."

There was a small pause. "Someone was murdered in my parking lot?"

"No, I was in the neighborhood so I am down here waiting for you."

There was stunned silence for a moment. "You, Katherine Beckett, are waiting for _me_ to go to the crime scene with you?"

"Do you _want_ me to leave without you?"

"I'll get my coat."

Castle practically ran out the door and down to the parking lot before hoping into the passenger side of the car, as if she was going to leave without him any minute. As soon as his door was shut, Beckett backed out of the lot and headed to the crime scene.

"So, how did your date go? I bet he wasn't too happy when you had to leave for a case."

She suspiciously glanced over at him out of the corner of her eye. _Does he really want to know about my date that bad? Or does he already know that I was with Alexis, waiting until I say something about my 'date' so he can call me out on it?_

"I was heading home when I got the call."

He immediately glanced at the clock before looking back at her. "Ouch, that bad huh? It's only been three hours since you left the precinct. Knowing you, you probably took at least forty five minutes to get ready so that only leaves about two hours for actual date time, including driving time. Must not have been very good."

"I actually had a pretty good time, better than I thought actually." He looked so happy at the thought of her date not going well that she almost felt guilty for saying that, but it was the truth after all.

"Oh…" He was silent just long enough for Beckett to start thinking that he was going to drop the subject.

"So? Who was it?"

She rolled her eyes at him but kept silent as she still wasn't sure if Alexis had told him or not. Surely she would have, right? He was already at the apartment when Alexis came in so she would have had a little time to talk to him before she called him down.

The rest of the time it took to get to the crime scene was spent with him asking the same question over and over again, just worded differently, and her repeatedly answering with a "no".

* * *

Despite the fact that the case was 'Beckett flavored', it turned out to be rather simple. A woman had snapped after her husband humiliated her one too many times and she went after him with the thing nearest to her, which happened to be the very sharp knife she had been using to cut up meat for their dinner. In a rage she continually slashed at him until she was satisfied and in the end he looked like he had been mauled by a wild animal.

It was a bloody and messy crime and though the wife did her best to cover it up, she forgot one important detail and once Castle spotted it, the case quickly unraveled and just a few hours later, Beckett was doing the post case paperwork.

"Beeeeckeeeett." Her shadow whined with that grating whining voice of his, causing her to nearly snap the pen she was holding in half.

"Castle. Go. Home. There is nothing else to do here and if you say my name like that one more time, I am likely to shoot you. So if you value your life, go home. Or shut up."

He mimed zipping his mouth shut and throwing away the key before settling back in his chair and pulling out his phone to play with.

Kate sighed and went back to filling out the last of the papers, wishing that he would have just left but knowing she should just enjoy the silence while it lasted.

There were various sounds as people went around the bullpen; doing whatever they needed to do but not a sound came from Castle.

She got through three pages of paperwork before she couldn't take it anymore and spun around to see Castle staring at her.

"Stop it."

He just blinked and gave her an innocent look. "Stop what?"

"You're not asking very loudly again. I know you, you're sitting over there, thinking 'Kaaaaaaaaaaate, tell me who your date was with' and trying to send it to me telepathically." She was glaring at him but he was looking at her with an expression of pure shock.

"Your impression of me really needs work, but how did you know I was calling you Kate? Don't tell me the telepathy really-"

She cut him off before he could get any further. "In your dreams. I told you not to say my name like that so I knew you would be using my first name."

"Actually in my dreams-" She cut him off once again, this time by throwing her pen at him. He stayed quiet after that, so she turned back to her paper work, after picking up a new pen.

Unfortunately, the silence only lasted a few minutes.

"So? Who was it?"

Exasperated, she abandoned her paperwork and once more turned to face him. "Why do you want to know so badly?" She thought he would try to brush off the question, but he answered right away.

"I want to know what kind of guy managed to get you to go out with him, yet could mess up the date so bad that you leave early."

Kate eyed him for a minute, deciding that he was never going to let it go, unless she told him.

"Fine. You really want to know?"

Castle nodded his head faster than thought humanly possible.

"Keep quiet, and stop staring at me, until I finish this paperwork and I'll tell you."

Finally, she got the peace and quiet she needed.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Kate stood up and stretched, after placing the now done paperwork in its appropriate place.

"So?"

She glanced over at his hopeful expression and decided to have a little fun.

"Well you know, I didn't actually say _when_ I would tell you." She knew he would start whining again so she quickly put her jacket on and grabbed her bag, heading towards the elevator with him following right behind her talking about how cruel she was.

When they got to the elevator doors, she pushed the down button and turned to face him.

"My date? Was with your daughter. They were having some motivational women's day thing tonight at her school and Alexis had told them that the twinkie would come but she ended up cancelling, so I went instead. Good night, Castle."

The elevator doors opened as if on cue and she walked backwards into the elevator, pushed the button so the doors would close faster, then took in the shocked and bewildered look on Castle's face until the doors shut fully.

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**Well that definitely wasn't what Castle was expecting, now was it? I love how she can tell what he is thinking. Hmm, I just realized I have no clue what is going to happen in the next chapter...**

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